I have more to say about woodchucks and how to love them

People used to come in to Natureworks and complain about woodchucks saying “why do they have to eat all my vegetables? I’d be fine if they just ate some and left some for me!”

Well, are you growing a diversity of plants, or is your garden set in a massive expanse of lawn? Woodchucks won’t eat lawn grass, but they like native asters, clover, and horseweed. They’ll nibble that a little, in addition to your vegetable plants. They probably enjoy other wild plants as well—watch them while they eat and leave their favorite plants to distract them from your vegetables.
Last year the woodchuck would nibble on our collard plants after tasting the asters, and I feel certain that she ate the cabbage caterpillars on the leaves, helping us control the pest population. The eating also probably stimulated the collards to grow more. I’ve read that a plant that has 30% “damage” from being eaten actually grows more.
Plants have a relationship with herbivores. They need the pruning and cutting that comes with being nibbled. Plants untouched by anything but human eyes get lonely.
So grow more plants, get your neighbors to grow more plants, and for the love of God, don’t trap and move your resident woodchuck. She will die in an unfamiliar place—outcompeted and disoriented. Learn to live with and love the wildlife around you.